Supernam
Well-known member
Space is the main reason. But you do have a great point.
Need some advice on trailer stuff
- Thread starter 油井緋色
- Start date
smudger
Well-known member
Yep space for me as well, 'er indoors was very good about losing part of our driveway to my 8 x 16 "workshop" shed but she flatly refuses to have a trailer, open or enclosed also stored in what's left of the driveway.
These trailers can fold up & be stored easily at the side of my workshop & its there whenever I need to use it.
Yea, obviously not brilliant quality, you get what you pay for but it fits my needs for the moment.
These trailers can fold up & be stored easily at the side of my workshop & its there whenever I need to use it.
Yea, obviously not brilliant quality, you get what you pay for but it fits my needs for the moment.
If you go the harbor frt route, (actually any trailer) get a spare wheel set, and carry replacement bearings and the tools to change a wheel and bearing. I see more low end trailers sitting on the side of the road because nobody planned for a flat.
I never got the guys putting a 10k motorbike on a $200.00 trailer.
I never got the guys putting a 10k motorbike on a $200.00 trailer.
These $200 trailers are Chinese so price is not indicative of quality. Think Apple products. A $700 phone could run the space program.
smudger
Well-known member
Ha ha, only problem with that is that I'm an ugly old bugger so I find "significant others" rather hard to come by lol
Be careful, if she gets ****** next thing you know the courts will deem that she actually owns the trailer...and the bikes that went on it...and the house. And your car. Etc.
Bearing failures are 99.999% of the time due to lack of maintenance. The Harbor freight trailers reportedly come with barely adequate grease in the bearings and people think it's ok. Others, again, lack of maintenance - boat trailers in particular where the entire hub is often underwater, yet people don't check the grease forever and are then surprised when the water that got in (and was never removed during service / regreasing) causes the bearings to cook. Same goes for blown grease seals that go unnoticed.
Tire failures are often under inflation. Again, people hookup to a trailer that's potentially been sitting for months and hit the highway without a second thought - trailer tires are notorious for heating up when used under inflated and heat kills tires.
Its all basic lack of preventative maintenance that leads to most trailers you see sitting on the side of the road. I've hauled a lot of small trailers a lot of miles and never had a failure that stranded me anywhere, but I do believe in preventative maintenance
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http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cargo-utilit...er/1146202131?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true
Something like this. What are some red flags?
I know what to look for in a bike but I know nothing about trailers.
油井緋色;2391095 said:
Blech. To start, the axle seems really far back which will make for a heavy tongue weight. The second consequence is there won't be much load on the trailer axle. With a 2000b axle and realistic load of only a few hundred pounds, the trailer suspension won't do much. I'm not saying that trailer won't work, it just looks like they focused on standing it up and didn't think much about trailer design while it was in motion.
Looks like a stinger, or a stinger knockoff to me. They are very highly regarded trailers, and the axle placement is somewhat intentional so that the rear of the motorcycle acts as part of the trailers suspension, while yes, possibly transferring some more weight to the towing vehicle which also leads to a smoother ride. With a more traditional centre mounted axle the trailer would be MUCH more bouncy in the end, and these trailers are typically built to handle large cruisers that can exceed 1000#, hence the 2000# axle. If you put a much lighter bike on it, yes, you will pay a ride penalty, but that would go with ANY trailer, and the rearward axle placement on these sorts of trailers (stinger style) helps negate that.
Lastly, with a torsion style suspension vs traditional springs, they typically ride much smoother, even when lightly loaded.
IMHO that's a heck of a deal and won't last long.
油井緋色, the only thing I would note is that it needs fenders to be legal (you stand a very good chance of getting a ticket without them, ESPECIALLY if it's raining when you're towing as it will throw rooster tails 50+ feet in the air). Any welding shop could fab up some brackets quick and put them on for you in a flash if you go buy a pair of metal ones and bring them to the shop with you, along with the trailer. Ask to see the lights working as well unless you're savvy with electrical...although it's not complicated stuff if you're handy at all. I'd also add some reflectors on the sides of the trailer as there are no clearance lights - by the letter of the law there probably should be 1 amber one on either side of the front/tongue area, FWIW, but I doubt you'd get a cop that would nail you for it...but for safety, adding a few or sticking on a bunch of highly reflective tape would be wise. As I've mentioned in a few other threads I have a bunch of the highway-quality 3M reflective material you're welcome to if you want, it would serve the purpose of making you seen.
Personally, if I only needed a 1 bike trailer I'd be all over that like a fat kid on a Smartie. It won't last long.
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Aaaaaannnd...the ad (and probably the trailer) is gone.
Splash
Well-known member
Here's detailed instructions on how to assemble the HF trailer.
http://jaredyates.com/pages/trailer/trailer.shtml
http://jaredyates.com/pages/trailer/trailer.shtml
cknowles
Well-known member
I picked up one of these, it's a Kendon clone. This one was a little rough and required a new wiring harness and safety chains as I didn't trust the cable that came provided. Total cost is roughly double the OP's link. The low floor makes loading pretty easy and since the trailer weighs about 400 lbs I can move it around myself, though it does take 2 people to stand it upright when it's folded. When folded it takes up 8' wide and the height of the tires deep.
Here's cleaned up and ready to roll
And another
Here's cleaned up and ready to roll
And another
Supernam
Well-known member
Where did you buy this one?I picked up one of these, it's a Kendon clone. This one was a little rough and required a new wiring harness and safety chains as I didn't trust the cable that came provided. Total cost is roughly double the OP's link. The low floor makes loading pretty easy and since the trailer weighs about 400 lbs I can move it around myself, though it does take 2 people to stand it upright when it's folded. When folded it takes up 8' wide and the height of the tires deep.
Here's cleaned up and ready to roll
And another
smudger
Well-known member
Well I bit the bullet & bought on of the folding trailers in Nam's opening post last weekend.
Went together quickly & easily today, will do the wiring tommorrow.
Seems pretty strong when all bolted up ready to use but a bit flimsy when folded up & the castors are terrible, I'll be replacing those for sure with some rubber shod easier moving ones.
I also removed all the grease that came in the wheels hubs & bearings & replaced it with a high quality grease.
The wheel hubs now have grease nipples fitted which is a good idea.
Tie downs..........is a 1200lb break strength strong enough to hold my ZX7 ok or would I need to go heavy duty?
I'll be bolting the tie downs through the wood dec & the steel frame.
All in all it seems ok to me & helps solve my trailer storage problems.
Went together quickly & easily today, will do the wiring tommorrow.
Seems pretty strong when all bolted up ready to use but a bit flimsy when folded up & the castors are terrible, I'll be replacing those for sure with some rubber shod easier moving ones.
I also removed all the grease that came in the wheels hubs & bearings & replaced it with a high quality grease.
The wheel hubs now have grease nipples fitted which is a good idea.
Tie downs..........is a 1200lb break strength strong enough to hold my ZX7 ok or would I need to go heavy duty?
I'll be bolting the tie downs through the wood dec & the steel frame.
All in all it seems ok to me & helps solve my trailer storage problems.
Considering you're going to be using 4 of them, that should be plenty.
Sounds like you're well setup. Good idea repacking the bearings, and make sure to check the tires before every haul - the little trailer tires are notorious for loosing air when sitting and overheated tires as a result of improper inflation is the number 1 cause for blowouts.
